8.50am: The big story this morning is coming out of Brussels, where Eurozone finance ministers have agreed the latest bailout package for Greece. My colleague Graeme Wearden has all the details on his Eurozone debt crisis live blog. In London the government's main announcement this morning is coming from Nick Clegg, who is unveiling a work programme for what Clegg describes as "disengaged" 16 and 17-year-olds (ie, NEETS, people not in education, employment or training). You can read the Press Association story about it here and the Cabinet Office news release here. And this morning Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, is giving what could be an important speech for Labour economic policy.

As usual, I'll be covering all the breaking political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I'll post a summary at around 1pm. But I'll be finishing by 2pm because I'm interviewing Len McCluskey this afternoon.

And if you're a hardcore fan, you can follow @gdnpoliticslive. It's an automated feed that tweets the start of every new post that I put on the blog.

Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

9.20am: Here is some reaction to the latest Greek bailout.

From George Osborne (pictured), the chancellor

I think the important thing about this deal is that they have tried to get Greece into a reasonable place vis-a-vis its debt sustainability. That's been the crucial missing ingredient. They have not, in the past, come up with a sustainable position for Greece. I think they have made real progress now towards giving a sustainable debt position for Greece.

Of course the Greek people, the Greek political system has to deliver really difficult decisions now but I don't think Greece has any other option.

The other significant point about last night's deal was that the rest of the eurozone signalled a willingness to stand behind their currency and stand behind Greece and frankly all along the failure to deal with the Greek situation has caused uncertainty. Hopefully we can all move on now and get the European economy growing.

From Alistair Darling, the Labour former chancellor

I am very sceptical about this for two reasons. It had to be done but it does not get you out of the woods at all. Even if Greece manages to do everything that has been asked for it, in eight years' time they will still have a debt of 120% of their GDP. You have to ask, with a frail economy like Greece, whether that is possibly realistic in terms of seeing Greece come through that.

The second thing, which is a problem which is also affecting the other, more weak economies in Europe, is where are the policies that are going to get growth. If you don't get the growth, you don't get the income to get down your borrowing and therefore your debt.

That is a real problem now. The eurozone, with this ridiculous treaty they have locked themselves into, are almost going to inflict perpetual deflation ... further cuts, further suppressing of growth, and that points, to me, to the fact that, I suspect, Greece will be back at the table at some point and, if the eurozone is not very fortunate, other countries will be back as well. It is highly unsatisfactory.

I believe that Les Ebdon has the experience and knowledge of the sector to do this job.

In the Commons yesterday Vince Cable, the business secretary, said that Willetts had agreed with the appointment. But it's deeply unfashionable in Tory circles to praise Ebdon (Number 10 have been lukewarm) and Willetts stressed that Edbon would not be making policy himself, but would instead by operating within a framework set by government.

Photograph: Felix Clay Felix Clay/Felix Clay

9.47am: We've already got an Office for Budget Responsibility, which was set up by George Osborne to depoliticise Whitehall economic forecasting by taking it out of the hands of the Treasury and giving the job to an independent body of experts. Now Labour wants to achieve something similar in education by creating an Office for Educational Improvement. Stephen Twigg (pictured), the shadow education secretary, will unveil the idea in a speech to Progress tonight. Here's an extract.

In order to put evidence at the heart of education reform, Labour will establish an "Office for Educational Improvement", independent of ministers to drive up standards and spread best practice across the system. The office would act as the authority on evidence in education policy, including on the relationship between education and social mobility. This idea has come through Labour's policy review process, and I will spend the next few months consulting widely on the precise remit ...

Evidence is something that is shockingly undervalued when it comes to education reform. It is even more important at a time of financial austerity. Imagine, for a moment, if the NHS ignored research on how to help patients survive, and instead followed the personal views of some doctors or politicians? We could still be using leeches and treating the sick for black bile.

Too often, teachers don't have the time to look into what the research shows. And too many academics don't see it as relevant for their work to be applied in the classroom.

In an interview on the Today programme this morning Twigg conceded that you could not depoliticise education policy entirely. But he said his proposals would force politicians to be less dogmatic. I've taken the quote from PoliticsHome.

You can't strip the politics out of education. However, I looked at the last 20 years – there have been ten different education secretaries in the last two decades, and what everyone in education says to me is there's too much chopping and changing, a lot of people say to me there's too much dogma. Politics is about the resources we put in, it's about the values that underlay our approach to education, but what often disrupts education is a dogmatic approach that isn't based on evidence, and I think people will welcome something that says in addition to the politics, in addition to the election promises that we will make, let's also have an independent voice that draws on the evidence from this country and from other parts of the world.

Of course, if Labour do establish such a body, they will then have to decide who runs it. As the Les Ebdon row shows, that in itself would be a highly political decision.

10.16am: Here's the Press Association story about today's borrowing figures.

Hopes the government will hit this year's borrowing forecasts were boosted today after figures revealed it enjoyed its highest surplus for four years in January.The Office for National Statistics said the Government recorded a net surplus of £7.8 billion excluding interventions such as bank bailouts, up £2.5 billion on the previous year and its biggest figure since January 2008.January is traditionally a bumper month for tax returns, which was helped by its bank levy, while expenditure was brought down by the Government's ongoing austerity measures.In a further boost to Chancellor George Osborne, net borrowing in the previous nine months of the year was revised down by £2.1 billion to £93.5 billion after local Government spending was lower than previously thought.The better than expected figures will boost hopes the Government will beat targets set by the Office for Budget Responsibility to reduce its borrowing to £127 billion this financial year.January's surplus helped push the Government's underlying net debt back below the £1 trillion mark, to £988.7 billion. But this figure is expected to return to fresh highs in the coming months.

10.27am: It's a bumper day for polls. Three are out. Here are the figures.

10.50am: Tomorrow MPs will debate a Labour motion calling for the publication of the NHS risk register. The Conservative MP Mark Field has now told PoliticsHome that the government should do what Labour are suggesting.

Given the controversy about health, it seems particularly ill-advised to not publish it. This and all supporting papers should be fully published and I'd be very surprised if Andrew Lansley didn't do this.

11.07am: You can read all today's Guardian politics stories here. And all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today's paper, are here.

As for the rest of the papers, here are some stories and articles that are particularly interesting.

No 10 is becoming increasingly concerned about the political implications of this turf war. At one meeting, called to discuss improving non-custodial sentences, Downing Street strategists were horrified to see the civil servants from the Ministry of Justice wincing whenever the words "punishment" or "retribution" were used. Every time one of the department's officials talked about "managing offenders", someone from No 10 mentioned "punishing criminals" just to make a point. One insider describes the Ministry of Justice as "a department of vested interests" that sees its role as to "represent left-leaning judges and liberal probation officers".

One proposal discussed in Downing Street is to reconfigure Whitehall to end the good-cop-bad-cop departmental divide. Under the plan the Home Office would be responsible for everything to do with crime, including the police, prisons policy and sentencing. The Ministry of Justice would be scrapped and replaced with a new as-yet-unnamed department handling issues relating to national identity. This would bring together immigration, passport control and citizenship. Damian Green, the junior immigration minister, is mentioned as a contender for the Cabinet job. From the liberal wing of the Tory party, he can talk tough without sounding nasty. It may not happen but a change of emphasis is certainly under way.

This suggests that the party's more aggressive strategy deployed since the autumn, where Lib Dems talk up differences with their Tory coalition partners, has not yet paid dividends.

Populus asked voters to rank six senior political figures out of 100. While the trend for all politicians is downward, Mr Clegg's ratings fall noticeably sharply among those who also say that they will vote Lib Dem. Only Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, saw a bigger fall among his own supporters.

In September 2010, Mr Clegg's ranking among Lib Dem voters was 65.8 out of 100, then 63.9 in February 2011. This dropped to 61.3 last September, but has since fallen even faster, to 54.8 this month. These figures are a bigger drop than either Ed Miliband or David Cameron among their own respective party supporters.

The parallels between now and then are deep. In the 1987 election campaign, the poll tax was not an issue, in the same way that the NHS reforms played no part in the 2010 election, although in fairness to Thatcher, her policy was buried away in the Conservatives' manifesto. Only after the 1987 election when the poll tax proposals were unveiled did the row begin within the Conservative party and beyond.

The legislative journeys are almost exactly the same, too. In both cases, the near revolutionary objective of the proposals was wholly contradicted by the amendments passed. For David Cameron and Andrew Lansley, the original aim was radical devolution of power – to patients, local providers and the private sector. The amendments lead in the opposite direction.

Mr Pickles was speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail ahead of today's announcement of a new strategy on community cohesion and integration.

He said the last Labour government and Harriet Harman, who was its equalities minister, had 'encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream'.

The minister said the Coalition celebrated Britain's tradition as a nation of 'tolerance' and insisted he was proud to celebrate the special customs and practices that make communities unique.

'But it's sad to see how, in recent years, the idea of tolerance has become twisted,' Mr Pickles added.

'A few people, a handful of activists, have insisted that it isn't enough simply to celebrate the beliefs of minority communities; they want to disown the traditions and heritage of the majority, including the Christian faith and the English language.

Lord Lester, who proposed to moderate the bill allowing ministers to disband a series of quangos, said he was "left looking like a complete idiot" when he traipsed through the lobby against his own proposals. This came after he told peers during the debate: "[My changes] seek to secure democratic accountability to parliament and the citizen, as well as to the courts in accordance with the rule of law."

The Lib Dem lord was told by his party's chief whip that trying to push through his changes would harm the government, and that he should withdraw them to let ministers consider amending the bill themselves. But when he tried to withdraw the amendment, Labour peers simply decided to propose it themselves, leaving him with little option but to vote against it.

This announcement is a step forward, but we remain concerned that this programme does not go far enough. We still need to see urgent action in schools to minimise the risk of young people becoming 'NEETs' in the first place, through better careers and study advice and improved business-school links.

It is right that private and third-sector providers are tasked with delivering this initiative on a payment-by-results basis, but they will need to work closely with local authorities, schools and other public agencies to make sure the scheme delivers.

12.01pm: Health is important, but the economy is still the single issue more likely than any other to determine the result of the next election and today Labour has taken a fresh stab at trying to win the all-important battle for economic credibility. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, put this at the heart of her speech to the IPPR this morning. It didn't mark a dramatic departure from anything Ed Balls had said on this subject today, but it was admirably lucid and (unlike her boss) Reeves can deliver a speech on this subject without Michael Fallon immediately banging out a press release accusing her of being responsible for a Treasury spending boom in the period before the recession.

• Reeves said that deficit reduction was now at the heart of Labour's economic policy making.

Compared to the issues that fire us up as politicians and campaigners, like reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunities, deficit reduction is perhaps a dry subject.

But it's precisely because we on the centre left believe that active government along with good schools, hospitals and other public services can transform lives, and make our country fairer and more prosperous, that we must ensure we pass the test of fiscal credibility.

If we don't get this right, it doesn't matter what we say about anything else. Earning people's trust that we will be responsible custodians of public money is the precondition for gaining the right to be heard on any other issue.

Sound public finances will always be the indispensable platform for delivering better jobs, better services and a strong, growing economy.

What I want to demonstrate this morning is that being trusted with the nation's finances, and building a stronger, fairer Britain, are imperatives that are not only compatible; they are also inseparable.

She also insisted that Labour's five-point plan for growth would actually help deficit reduction because it would increase growth, leading to higher tax revenues.

Labour's five point plan for jobs and growth is not an exception or postponement of our plan to reduce the deficit – it's an essential and integral part of it.

• She said that Labour wanted to make the tax base "more reliable and resilient".

Britain should not be too reliant on forms of tax revenues – such as those arising from the housing market and the financial sector – that can be volatile and vulnerable to external shocks ...

This is an exciting agenda that we have only just begun to explore. But it is clear that a fairer and more balanced economy would mean a more reliable and resilient tax base, as well as fairer outcomes and more resilient families and communities, so as well as delivering a stronger economy and a fairer society, a more responsible capitalism will also help us deliver long term fiscal sustainability.

It is worth noting, though, that although Reeves says she wants to make the Treasury less reliant on tax revenue from the City, Labour is actually proposing to increase taxes on banks and bankers - which would make us even more dependent on the Ciy.

• She said that members of the shadow cabinet had been ordered to identify where "substantial savings" could be made.

Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have written to the shadow cabinet, and asked me to work with them, on first: identifying where waste could be eliminated and substantial savings made; and second, how they would switch spending from lower to higher priority areas.

• She said that George Osborne's economic policy was failing according to the criteria set by Osborne himself. That was because Osborne said the key things that mattered were cutting the deficit and securing the approval of the credit rating agencies, she argued.

The chancellor might claim today's borrowing figures show his plans are on track, but he is only on track for targets which have already been revised up by a staggering £158bn ...

Just look at what happened to the OBR's projections for the public finances over the 12 months between the chancellor's spending review in autumn 2010 and the autumn statement in November 2011: £17.8bn wiped off VAT revenues; £51.2bn off income tax revenues; £30.9bn off corporation tax revenues; an additional £34.7bn in unplanned spending on tax credits and social security benefits.

• She accused the government of wasting money on "pet projects". This was not a particularly new point, but it was quite an effective label.

We've seen incredible sums ploughed into pet projects: more than £100m spent on installing elected police commissioners – money that could have paid for 3,000 new police constables; £600m added to the free schools budget in November – money that could pay for the extra 100,000 primary school places we so desperately need; and £1.8bn set aside for the costs of NHS reorganisation – half of which would keep 6,000 nurses in post for three years.

• She attacked ministers for wasting money on unnecessary extravagance.

We've uncovered extraordinary examples of questionable spending in Whitehall: from £900 spent on cosmetics at the Ministry of Justice, to £69,000 spent on music and piano stores by the Ministry of Defence.

This was interesting because this is a tactic that, until now, has been a Tory speciality.

In parliament's order paper today Conservative business managers have asked the Commons to sit on Friday 23 March instead of Wednesday 28 March.

It is the latest in Mr Cameron's series of attempts to avoid questions on jobs, health and crime.

He will be out of the country on Wednesday March 14 – when job figures come out.

And analysis of recent parliamentary recess dates has also shown that the House of Commons has risen on a Tuesday 63% of the time since David Cameron became prime minister.

This compares with 44% in the last 18 months of the Labour government.

1.15pm: Here's a lunchtime summary

•George Osborne has welcomed the bailout deal agreed for Greece. "The important thing about this deal is that they have tried to get Greece into a reasonable place vis-a-vis its debt sustainability," he said. There are more details on our Eurozone debt crisis live blog. • Tesco has announced that it will pay youngsters on a government work experience scheme. As the Press Association reports, one of the firm's supermarkets in central London was forced to close on Saturday after it was invaded by members of the Right to Work campaign who said they were angry at a job advert looking for permanent workers in exchange for expenses and jobseeker's allowance. The group said it planned to hold protests tomorrow at a number of Tesco stores, including two in London and one in Kingston upon Thames. Tesco announced that from now on any young person accepted for work experience with the company will be offered a choice of participating in the government scheme, which protects their benefits for the duration of the four-week placement, or be paid by Tesco for the four-week placement, with a guaranteed permanent job at the end of it, provided they complete the placement satisfactorily.

• Rachel Reeves, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, has said that Labour would make the tax base "more reliable and resilient". She made the call in a speech saying that deficit reduction is now at the heart of Labour's economic policy making. (See 12.01pm.)• Stephen Twigg, the shadow education secretary, has said that Labour would set up an Office for Educational Improvement. "The office would act as the authority on evidence in education policy, including on the relationship between education and social mobility," he said. My colleague Jeevan Vasagar has written a blog explaining some potential advantages with Twigg's idea. (See 9.47am.)